Black Mesa: Ground 00
by RushingZ
Summary: An experiment that involved a Crystal specimen from the Border World "Xen" results in destruction around the facility. Gordon Freeman, a scientist at the Black Mesa research facility must help his allies escape the alien infested facility, while attempting to clean up a mess he started.
1. Running Late (Black Mesa Inbound)

"Damn it….. Damn it….. Damn it…." The scientist was infuriated due to the fact that he could get fired due to a simple mishap in the system. Gordon Freeman was the name of the scientist, a 27 year old graduate from MIT. Freeman was sitting on a bench, tapping his right foot at a smooth rhythm. "I just can't wait until I get to the lab." Freeman sarcastically muttered. "I mean…. Have you seen how the scientists harass people? Talk about harsh." As Gordon waited for his tram to arrive, he noticed another tram incoming for a stop at a door in the hall, the Security Guard stepped out of the tram, Freeman got even more frustrated. "Oh! So he gets a ride,_ BUT I DON'T!?_" Freeman said as he thought about what could happen to his job. "Well… I have been late sometimes, but not THIS late." Freeman noted.

His tram finally arrived, and Freeman rushed straight to it, waiting for the tram door to open. As he entered, he took a seat and began to sweat, a sign of his nervousness. "Crap…. Now I don't really want to go there now… But hey, this is the day we test this Crystal some guy brought in, it'll be fun, I guess." Freeman watched as men placed boxes around using a forklift outside of his tram. Gordon just watched and stared at the various places of Black Mesa. Gordon's tram passed by the Security Guard he saw earlier, but the Guard was banging on the door, seemingly locked out. "Poor guy." Freeman exclaimed.

Freeman closed his eyes and wished he were to arrive earlier then expected, hoping that nothing bad could happen to him. "If I get fired…. I'll…. Well, I don't know what to do." Gordon said while watching a machine building a type of rocket of sorts. _Good morning, and welcome to the Black Mesa transit system. _The voice of a robotic women spoke. "Huh? Who said that?" Freeman was unaware of the newly installed tram announcer, which inform various scientists about recent events and overall general activity within the facility. _This automated train is provided for the security and convenience of the Black Mesa Research Facility personnel. The time is 8:47 A.M. Current topside temperature is 93 degrees with an estimated high of 105. The Black Mesa compound is maintained at a pleasant 68 degrees at all times. _The voice spoke again. "Oh…. It's that voice they installed into the trams….. Forgot about that." Freeman said while heading back to watching scientists work outside of his tram. "Oh hey, I just remembered! Our rival company, Aperture Science was shut down, but no one knows why. I heard our team is throwing a party or something…"

"I guess I'll take a _*yawn*_ nap before I get there…. Hang on, I'm going to check the time first." Freeman pulled down the sleeve for his lab coat on his right shirt, revealing a light blue undershirt and an old fashioned watch. "8:47… Oh crap. I'm _screwed._" Gordon said nervously. "Man, I can't take a nap then. Once I get there, I just have to run down to the lab." Freeman pulled out his identity card and put it in the upper pocket for his lab coat. "Just in case." Freeman remarked. Gordon's tram was above a Radioactive spill due to a leak in the carrier. "Oh crap, that's a big mess. Glad I don't have anything to do with it at all.." Gordon said facing the front again.

"Alright, when I get there… Play it cool, Freeman. Say your alarm got broken or something." He talked to himself. The round door opened, and he could see the entrance from where he was. The tram slowly approached the drop-off point, Gordon stood up and tidied up his coat, checking the area just in case he dropped something important. _Please stand back from the automated door, and wait for the security officer to verify your identity.__Before exiting the train, be sure to check your area for personal belongings. Thank you, and have a very safe and productive day. _The voice said one final time as Gordon stood behind the door. "Morning Mr. Freeman." The Guard entered in the security code and opened the door, Freeman walked out and slowly to the entrance. "Looks like your running late. No worries, Mr. Freeman, the system had a crash or something, the guard in the lobby will notify or something." The Guard exclaimed as he entered in another security code, opening the doors. Gordon could hear the sounds of gears shifting and other sounds of various types of technology, the doors opened. "Thanks." Gordon said as he nodded to the Security Guard, entering the waiting room.

* * *

_So, that was my first take on a novelization! If you enjoyed it, you should stick around and see what other schemes I come up with. I also plan to do this for every other VALVe game that I know (which is basically my VALVerse project), so the novelization of Blue Shift, Decay, and Opposing Force is probably going to happen!_

_~RushingZ_


	2. Suit Up (Anomalous Materials)

Freeman entered the room, one scientist was monitoring various screens on a wall, one was reading a newspaper, and one was assisting a security officer in an incident that happened earlier. "Hey, guys. What's going on?" Freeman slowly approached the two at the desk, the security officer browsing through various errors on the PC. _Okay, no one seems mad, maybe if I just keep it cool, no one will notice that I'm late. _

The officer turned to Freeman's direction, grabbing some papers and tapping them on the desk, neatly placing them in order, "Hey, Dr. Freeman. Earlier today, we had a system crash and lots of our stuff have been reacting wildly and stuff… They also mentioned that they were having some problems in the test chamber, but they cleared that up, I think. They also told me for you to head on down there as soon as you got here, so get a move on, man." The officer returned to restoring the system to its original self. "Uhh…. I'll get to it." Freeman lightly responded, walking down the hall to the right.

Freeman was making his way to the locker room, to equip the H.E.V suit required to participate in the experiment. Walking down the hall, Freeman came across two scientist talking about the upcoming experiment, fear could be heard one of their voices. "That isn't a reasonable setting for the Anti-Mass Spectrometer.. It's beyond safety settings." The younger and shorter scientist worried, thinking a malfunction could occur. "Don't worry, nothing will go wrong, Dr. Russ." The other scientist replied, not showing any fear or worry. "W-what's going on here, what's wrong about the setting?" Freeman curiously approached the two, wondering what may happen if the Anti-Mass Spectrometer's level is set above 80. "Nothing you need to worry about, Gordon. Now, get your H.E.V suit on and hurry to the Test Chamber." The two scientists then resumed their private conversation.

Freeman entered a cafeteria, only having two scientists and a security officer in the room. "Hey, Gordon." The officer leaning on one of the vending machines greeted him. "Hello." Freeman said walking to one of the vending machines. "Huh….. I do feel tired, maybe I could use a Sprite." Freeman said pulling out a nickel. "Sorry for being nosy, but weren't you supposed to be in the Test Chamber, Gordon?" A scientist using the other vending machine asked. "Yeah, I know, I'll be down there soon…" Gordon placed the nickel in the slot, and pressed the button located at the top-right to receive his sprite. "Sorry, Gordon. Those haven't been working for a few days." A female scientist reading a newspaper notified Gordon. "Wow…. Should've told me sooner…." Freeman muttered under his breath, walking out of the cafeteria.

"Hey, champ! Let me get you something!" The officer spoke once again, pointing at the microwave. "Huh? Oh sweet, some noodles." "Actually, it's a casserole, but have at it." The officer replied. Freeman pressed the STOP button and took out the casserole, which he , however, the dish was still cold, so Freeman put it back in the microwave and set it for 2:40, but as soon as the process of heating it up started, the dish-top blew off and the casserole was ruined. "Oh dear lord…. Dr. Magnusson isn't going to be very happy." The female scientist stated. "Wait, that was his?" Freeman found out, giving the officer an upset look. "Sorry bro, how about I buy you a beer after the experiment?" The officer insisted. "Sure, I guess." Freeman then head back on his way to the locker room, which was just behind the cafeteria. Walking down the hall, Freeman came across the steel door, which lifted up and allowed him access to the lockers.

"Alright… Now to get my Hazard suit on and get to the Test Chamber fast." Freeman walked towards his locker, pulling it towards his direction. Freeman hung up his lab coat and closed his locker, walking to the room on the left. "Well, looks like mine is in perfec- Uh, wait…. Where the hell is my HELMET? Oh c'mon, this is the 3rd time someone took my freaking helmet!" Freeman noticed. Freeman pressed the button which triggered access to the center H.E.V carrier, Freeman then walked up to the carrier and touched the H.E.V suit, automatically attaching itself to him within a matter of seconds. _Just got to love the feel of the H.E.V suit, but the one thing I hate about it is…. _Freeman's thought was suddenly interrupted by a sting on the back of his neck, which was actually the inhibitor chip of the suit, allowing visual access to the user's life status and power vulnerability. "It's a pretty cool feature though, being able to see your heart power through your eyes, kind of annoying at first but people get used to it…" Freeman said to himself, exiting the locker room.

Walking down the halls gave that feeling of awkwardness, as it was particularly quiet at that time of day. Freeman came across a glass door, before looking to the security officer and giving him a nod, to which the officer opened the glass door through the retinal scanner. Freeman walked through, accessing the dual hallway, which lead to the same path. _Wait… Oh yeah, I have this funny little memory where I had just started working here, so when I came across these two paths…_ Gordon then started walking to the right path. _I was confused on which I should go through, then it turns out, they both lead to the same path. _Freeman walked towards the elevator shaft, and pressed the button to the left to open the door in front of him. Walking to the elevator, Gordon pressed the down button on the elevator, and the elevator slowly made its way down.

Freeman slowly looked down at the next entrance by looking off the edge of the elevator. "I could just jump down there right now, but I don't think these things have shock absorbers, that, or I'll get broken legs." Freeman exclaimed. The elevator arrived to Freeman's destination, and Freeman exited the elevator, walking through a pair of glass doors and through to the other hallway. Many scientists were checking the stability for many electronics, as the experiment could cause some of their technology to go defunct.

Freeman was slowly approaching the Test Chamber, as he just had to take one more elevator and would be there. Freeman entered the dark hallway lighted up by damp green lamps on the ceiling, Freeman entered the control room. "Ah, Dr. Freeman is here." An elderly scientist sitting on one of the chairs noticed. "We just sent the sample down to the Test Chamber, Dr. Freeman." The younger scientist to Freeman's right said. "What about the Anti-Mass Spectrometer, what is it set too?" Freeman asked, remembering the conversation between two scientists earlier. "We boosted the Anti-Mass Spectrometer to 105 percent, bit of a gamble but we made it through that." The scientist replied. "The Administrator is very concerned that we a conclusive analysis of today's sample. I gather he went to some lengths to get it." The man at readying the experiment stated. "They're waiting for you, Gordon, in the Test Chamber." One of the more disappointed scientist urged Gordon to get to the Test Chamber.

Walking straight to the elevator shaft, Freeman came across two friends of his, Dr. Eli Vance and Dr. Issac Kleiner, "Ah! Dr. Freeman! Are you ready for the experiment?" Kleiner asked. "Of course, Dr. Kleiner." Freeman nicely responded. "Me and Izzy have been making some preparations for the experiment, so that this thing can go as smoo-" Vance was cut off by a small explosion within their equipment, possibly caused by the Anti-Mass Spectrometer's high setting. "What the blazes? This was not supposed to happen!" Kleiner added, Freeman stepped up to the technology and used the flashlight on his suit to check out the problem. "Woah, that doesn't look good." Freeman noted. "Gordon, we can handle this, you can go on." Vance told Gordon.

Freeman walked to the elevator shaft and entered the elevator, closing his eyes just to avoid the discomfort of the spinning elevator. Freeman walked down the hall once again, and was greeted by a security officer at a desk right beside the airlock of the Test Chamber. "Hey, Dr. Freeman, we've been waiting on you all morning. I'll let you in, hang on a second. Oh yeah, two scientists are in the airlock, they'll give you a briefing or something before the experiment begins." The officer exclaimed while typing the access code for the airlock. "All right then." Freeman said entering through the doorway and to the airlock.

"Ah, Dr. Freeman is here, Robert." A young man right in front of the steel door told his comrade. "I'm afraid we'll be deviating a bit from standard analysis procedures today, Gordon." The other scientist checking the stability levels started walking towards Gordon and his comrade. "Yes, yes….. But, with good reason. This is a rare opportunity for us, and this is the purest sample yet." The scientist replied. "We should also note that this is potentially the most unstable, Dr. Fisher." The young man straightened his tie, his expression showed the feeling of nervousness. "What are you going on about? Gordon can handle this, if he follows standard insertion procedures." Dr. Fisher responded. "This is starting to remind of the conversation between those two scientists earlier.." Freeman silently whispered. "I don't know how you can say that Dr. Fisher, although, I will admit, that the possibility of a Resonance Cascade is highly unlikely, I just remain uncomfortable with-" The young man was suddenly cut off by Fisher, who seems to have been slightly annoyed by the young man. "Gordon does **NOT** need to hear all of this, he is a highly trained professional. We have assured the administrator that nothing will go wrong." Fisher complimented Gordon. "Ah, you're right….. Gordon, we have complete confidence in you." _Hell yeah, you do. _Freeman said within his thoughts. "Let's let him in now." Fisher said walking to the retinal scanner to the right, as the young man went to the left.

The large steel door in front of Freeman opened, allowing the H.E.V suited scientist to begin the experiment. "Ahem, testing, testing." One of the scientists in the control room tested the microphone, so that they could go over the experiment step by step with Gordon. "Everything seems to be under control, Dr. Freeman. My colleague will now go over the procedure with you Gordon, good luck." The man let another scientist take over, as the scientist would be monitoring the controls of the Anti-Mass Spectrometer and would not be able to keep in contact with Gordon during the experiment. "All right, Gordon. Your suit should keep you comfortable throughout the events of this experiment. The specimen should be delivered in a few minutes, if you could be nice and climb up, and start the rotors, we could begin the experiment." The scientist asked Gordon. Freeman walked towards the ladder and climbed up to the higher catwalk, activating the rotors right after, the rotors began to spin at a slow pace, but then started spinning at high speeds. "Thank you Gordon, we can take it from here."

"Power to stage emitters in three… two….. one…" The scientist monitoring the process of the Anti-Mass Spectrometer said slowly. In a quick flash, a golden beam started shooting downwards, the three orbs around the rotors began shooting quick beams at it, giving it more power. _Wow, that looks…. Cool, wow, the sound of the rotors is pretty much putting me to sleep. _Freeman thought. "I'm seeing predictable phase arrays…" The scientist in the control room told Gordon. "Stage two emitters… Activating now." As soon as the scientist spoke, three metal orbs floating around the rotors and began started shooting golden beams towards the direction of the crystal within the slot of the Anti-Mass spectrometer.

"Gordon, we cannot predict how long the system can operate at this system, nor how long the reading will take. Please work as quickly as you can." The scientist reminded Gordon. "Uh.. it's probably not a problem.. probably.. but I'm showing a small discrepancy in.. well, no, it's well within acceptable bounds again. Sustaining sequence." The scientist controlling the levels of the Spectrometer exclaimed. Freeman just stood on the catwalk and waited for the delivery of the specimen, which has apparently taken quite a while.

"I've been notified that the sample is ready for you, Gordon. Just look to the delivery system for the specimen." The scientist notified Freeman, soon after, Freeman head towards the ladder and climbed down, and walked towards the delivery system. The metal cage around slowly went down, the red-flashing lights on the edges stopped blinking, and there it was, the specimen. Freeman went to the carrier part of the sample and started pushing it to the slot, "Standard insertion procedures, Gordon." Freeman kept on pushing, "W-what the hell is he doing in there!?" A scientist that Freeman never heard came into the room, unknown to what was happening, Freeman stopped pushing. "Uh…. Guys? Who was that?" Freeman asked. "Nothing you need to worry about, Gordon. Just insert the carrier into the slot and we're done for the day." The scientist earlier replied. Freeman kept on pushing, but, however, as soon as the sample touched the golden beam, a green flash happened, the beam crackling out of control.

"What the he- Gordon! Get away from the-!" A scientist shouted. "What the hell!? What did I do!?" Freeman yelled, falling back and not believing what was before his own eyes. "Shutting down! Shuttin- Wait…. It's not shutting down!" The scientist was unable to control the chaos happening around him. Pieces of the ceiling falling, the catwalk being blown up, Gordon was terrified. "Shit! Shit! Let me OUT!" Freeman ran to the giant steel door, begging to be let free and run away from all this chaos. "Freeman, don't worry, we-" The scientist was cut short however, but a green beam shooting into the control room, causing a massive explosion. Freeman didn't stop banging on the door, eventually falling to his knees. The green beam suddenly struck him, then everything went black.

Gordon was back to where he was, in front of the Spectrometer. "Fuck! We shouldn't have done this!_ WE'RE BAD PEOPLE!"_ Gordon screamed, unable to handle the thought of dying. The green beam struck him once again, teleporting him to… An alien world. "W… What the fuck…." Freeman couldn't believe it, aliens, they were real. These aliens had tentacles for a mount, and were large and about the size of a lion, Freeman was shocked. Freeman was teleported again, however, he was surrounded by 4 humanoid aliens, who then closed in on him, he was teleported out of there in the nick of time, back to the Test Chamber. Gordon landed back in the Test Chamber, however, a powerful and devastating green beam struck him in the throat, destroying his vocals. Freeman cried out in pain, as a large amount of blood was spat out of his throat, Freeman couldn't handle the situation, falling to the ground, blacking out.

The Resonance Cascade had actually happened.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

_And then the World went to hell basically, now, the language is going to get more more intense now, there's going to be a large amount of swearing or cursing happening after this chapter, so if you're underage, then watch out._

_~RushingZ_


End file.
